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The Columbus city attorney’s office has decided it lacks evidence that former Ohio State linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer violated a protection order four months ago when he visited his ex-wife’s house.

The misdemeanor charge was dismissed yesterday in Franklin County Municipal Court by Assistant City Attorney Robert Tobias.

The law requires proof that Katzenmoyer acted “recklessly,” Tobias said. “I just felt like I would have a difficult time proving that he was reckless.”

Katzenmoyer, 35, was arrested on March 29, three days after he stopped at the Trabue Road home of his ex-wife, Ashleigh Quint, to pick up their daughter. Quint had obtained a civil-protection order against him on March 25, saying he had threatened her.

Katzenmoyer’s attorney, Tim Merkle, said yesterday that the protection order did not affect the parental-visitation schedule established in their divorce settlement. He said Katzenmoyer had made arrangements through Quint’s mother to pick up their daughter at the house, but no one answered the door. Katzenmoyer called police to file an interference-with-custody complaint.

The protection order was dismissed at Quint’s request after an April 5 hearing at which she testified that she wasn’t home when Katzenmoyer stopped at the house.

A trial on the misdemeanor charge was scheduled for yesterday in Municipal Court.

“They had the choice to prove their case or dismiss it if they couldn’t prove it,” Merkle said. “We weren’t going to agree to a compromise. The fact of the matter is, there was no violation.”

Katzenmoyer, of W. Main Street in Westerville, played football for Ohio State beginning in 1996 and was a first-round NFL draft pick after his junior year. His professional career was cut short by a neck injury suffered during his rookie season.